The Little Red-Haired Girl is an unseen character in the Peanuts comic strip by Charles M. Schulz, and is a symbol of unrequited love. While never seen in the strip, she appears onscreen in several television specials. Her name is sometimes cited in these as Heather. She serves as the object of Charlie Brown's desire. He most often notices her while eating lunch outdoors, and often tries to get up the courage to speak to her, but always in vain. Anything touched by her or associated with her is precious to him. For example, in one strip he finds her pencil dropped in the hallway, notices that it has been chewed and declares, "She's human!" Presumably, this common habit makes her seem more approachable, but, typically, he is prevented from following through when Lucy snatches the pencil and returns it to the Little Red-Haired Girl with a brusque, "Hey, kid! Here's your stupid pencil!"
She also figures prominently in Valentine's Day strips, several of which focus on Charlie Brown's hope of getting a valentine from her (or anyone for that matter; typically Charlie gets nothing and Snoopy gets tons of valentines). Charlie Brown typically attempts to give her a valentine but chickens out at the last minute.
Read more about Little Red-Haired Girl: Appearances, Inspiration
Famous quotes containing the words red-haired girl, red-haired and/or girl:
“1946: I go to graduate school at Tulane in order to get distance from a “possessive” mother. I see a lot of a red-haired girl named Maude-Ellen. My mother asks one day: “Does Maude-Ellen have warts? Every girl I’ve known named Maude-Ellen has had warts.” Right: Maude-Ellen had warts.”
—Bill Bouke (20th century)
“1946: I go to graduate school at Tulane in order to get distance from a “possessive” mother. I see a lot of a red-haired girl named Maude-Ellen. My mother asks one day: “Does Maude-Ellen have warts? Every girl I’ve known named Maude-Ellen has had warts.” Right: Maude-Ellen had warts.”
—Bill Bouke (20th century)
“Marry a mountain girl and you marry the whole mountain.”
—Irish proverb.